Hosiery



Patented July 25, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM L. THOMPSON, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T REAL SILK EOSIERY MILLS, INC., 0F INDIANAPOLIS, lNDIANA, A CORPORATON OF INDIANA HosIEny Application filed October 11, 1930. Serial No. 488,067.

This invention relates to hosiery and more particularly to the class thereof which has a knit-in reinforcement.

There is a demand for hosiery and, in particular for inens socks, of fine, close texture. By reason of the fineness of the threads With which it Iis necessary to make such hosiery, a problem has arisen incident to manufacturing in making the same durable so that the parts Which are most subject to Wear, such as the toe and heel, will not readily Wear out from strain and friction on the fine threads. It has been the customary practice in solving this problem to reinforce the parts of hosiery such as the toe and heel by eXtra yarn at these points, thereby producing a heavy texture single-ply effect. Even with this rein-v forcement, however, it is found that such hosiery Wears out rather quickly at the toe portion.

The main or usual reinforcement is accomplished by doubling the thread in these portions. It Would be desirable to triple the thread in those portions and this has in some cases been accomplished, but the result has been the formation of an unduly bulky fabric including a ridge or bunch at the seam, or looping line, between the toe section and the foot portion. It is, of course, obvious that the formation of ridges or bunches at the seams and the characteristic stiffness Wfill render the stocking uncomfortable and harsh on the foot. Attempts have been heretofore made to elfect a heavier multiple yarn reinforcement producing the desired durability by doubling the thread in the major portion of the advance toe and adding a third thread in a part of the doubled area to form a triple reinforcement in only the tip toe, but With the result that While the triple reinforcement is confined to a relatively small area such as to minimize the degree of discomfort upon the foot of the wearer, the undesirable features such as the production of ridges above the lines defining the single knit foot portion and the several reinforced areas of the'toe and a stiffness and harshness of the triple-rein forced portion are present and such as to 50 minimize the demand for hosiery which,

While having the desired durability, possesses also these disadvantages. 1

It is the principal object of the present invention to produce hosiery having the desired triple reinforcement at the toewhich Will give the same the desired durability, and to accomplish this result Without the accompanying disadvantages such as those above set forth. More specifically stated, I propose to produce hosiery having a triple-reinforced portion at the toe, preferably in the toe tip, rather than in the Whole of the advance toe, by throwing in with the usual single thread, (which, however, may be heavier than the thread used in knitting the leg) a second or reinforcing thread Which is doubled With the single thread, and a third reinforcing thread which is knit in as a separate thread to form a heavier texture. The stitches of What would constitute a reinforced portion are loosened by the utilization of suitable tension cams on the knitting machine sufficiently to allow the knitting in of the third thread Without unduly tensioning the stitches which might roduce ridges or bunches along the looping ines and form a stiff and harsh reinforced fabric. In other Words, I propose to knit the advance toe preferably as has heretofore been the practice, but to knit the tip toe With doubled reinforcing thread, and during the course of knitting to loosen up the single ply fabric so formed sufficiently to accommodate a third thread which is knit in to produce an eXtra heavy texture.

To further overcome the objectionable feature of a bulky fabric which is harsh and sti, it is a'furtherfobject of--this invention -to pretreat the yarn from which the reinforced portions are to be knit to effect a permanent softening such that during the course of knitting the yarn will operate more smoothly in the needles and knit into soft, non-knotty stitches Without producing ridges, and which will result in soft and pliable triple-reinforced fabric such as is easy on the foot of the wearer. The softening process contemplated also enables the hosiery, if it be knit in the grey, to be dyed Without resulting in a stiffening, such as is ordinarily produce-d in the course of dyeing closely knitted fabric.

Summing up the features above pointed out, it will be understood that I propose to produce hosiery having a high degree of i fragmentary in side elevation of the foot poi'- tion of a stocking and showing the aforementioned reinforcement in the toe section thereof; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic detailed view on a magnified scale to indicate the arrangement of the reinforcing threads and the manner of knitting the same into the toe of a stocking.

Referring to the drawing. the reference character 10 designates a sock or stocking having the usual leg portion 11 and foot 12 knit with, say, a single yarn. In knitting stockings it is customary to manufacture the same with a lower foot portion as indicated by the numeral 13 with a single yarn which, however, is heavier than the yarn of which the leg and upper foot are knit so as to increase the wear in this part of the stocking. It will be understood, however, that so far as the present invention is concerned the character of the yarn of which the lower foot is knit is immaterial and may well be the same as that employed in the upperfoot. Where the lower portion of the foot is knit of a different yarn from the upper portion of the foot, it is joined to the latter by looping along the line 14. The advance toe of the stocking is generally denoted by the numeral 15.

It may be considered desirable to provide a double reinforced area 16 v1`in a portion of the advance toe, but this is not essential to my invention. Since the portion of the stocking which normally wears out first is the part adjacent the toes of the wearer, I propose to provide a triple reinforcement 17 which, as shown, covers the area of the toe tip and is joined with the main portion of the toe along a line 18. I further prefer to form the reinforcement so that it will exist not only in the upper part of the toe section, but will extend also into the lower part of that section as shown. While in the drawing the reinforced section includes only the area of the toe tip,

i since the desideratum is to make a stocking which will not readily wear out, it will be understood that if desirable the area of the reinforced section in the toe may be made larger. Further, since the double reinforced area shown is not a part of this invention, it may be omitted and the line 18 in such case will indicate the line of joinder of the triplereinforced area 17 with the main portion of the toe 15.

bined with such other threads to constitute a triple strand yarn. The knitting lnay be continued on the same needles as used in the knitting of the rest of the toe, it being desirable, however, that such needles be of as ine a gauge as is consistent with the thickness of the triple thread so as not to unduly tighten the loops of the reinforced area.

In order to prevent the formation of hard stitches which cause ridges along the line of joinder 18 between the 'triple-reinforced toe tip and the adjoining portion of the toe, I lengthen the loops in the courses of the advance toe lying adjacent the toe tipso that the additional thread or Ithreads necessary to make a triple fabric may be introduced without tightening the loops. The lengthened loops are continued in the courses defining the line of joinder as the additional threads are introduced, and preferably throughout the knitting of the whole tip to permit the formation of a soft reinforcement having relatively loose stitches. The loosening of the loops may be accomplished by the.

use of suitable tensioning cams in any convenient manner.

To overcome any danger of harshness or stiffness in the toe portion of the stocking by reason of the employment of a triple reinforcement as just described, I have found it highly desirable that the reinforced portion of the stocking be knit from yarn which is of considerably softer character than that ordinarily employed in knitting any portions of a stocking. Numerous advantages result from the use of softer threads or yarns. For instance the yarn operates more smoothly in the needles during the course of knitting so that the third yarn may be woven into the fabric without diiiiculty', the line of looping between the reinforced portion and the body of the stocking foot does not resultgin the production of irritating ridges or bunches, and the stitches in the reinforced portion and along the looping line will adhere more closely together so as to produce not only a soft fabric but, further, a fabric having a relatively smooth and even surface and of uniform thickness. I have found that by suitable treatment of yarn such as ordinarily employed in knitting the reinforced portions of stockings the desired soft characteristic may be imparted so as to make such yarns suitable to accomplish my purpose. Furthermore, by such treatment of the usual yarns p stockings, during and by reason of the dyeing process. i

To impart to yarn for the reinforced sections the desired quality of softness I first treat the yarns to eliminate all the natural oils and foreign matter, after Which the yarns l are immersed-in a suitable softening oil and then coated with paraffin oil of high boiling point. IVhere the reinforcing yarns comprise silk the cleaning may be accomplished by a boiling soap treatment and the softening accomplished by immersing the yarn in olive oil, cocoa-nut oil, sulphonated castor oil or the like, such practices in themselves being well known to the art. If the yarn be cotton the cleaning and softening may be carried ont, for example, by boiling the same in an alkaline solution of alcohol and naphthenic acid as set forth in Patent No. 1,020,625 to Schewelin. The paraffin used for the filial treatment should be of high boiling point in order that. it will not be removed during dyeing or subsequent washing of the article. It may be applied in any known manner such, for example, as running the yarnthrough a tank containing the oil. Y

By the manner of knitting above described, the permanently softened yarns Will produce a triple reinforced fabric Which possesses not only a high degree of durability, but which is also soft, pliable and comfortable to the wearer.

The present invention is particularly adapted in the manufacture of socks or stockings having a relatively line texture such as are produced by kniting on a t-gauge machine en'iploying 240 needles or on a 48gauge machine using 220 needles. In knitting on these machines, it is customary to employ Q-ply yarn. In knitting my triple reinforcenient with such type of machine, I' propose to add a second and a third Q-ply yarn to produce a reinforcement composed of G plies which l have found possesses the desired degree of durability. It Will be understood however` that while my invention has particular reference to production of socks and stockings of fine texture it may readily be employed in the production of hosiery having a coarser textureA and made of a thread heavier than the Q-ply yarn employed in knitting fine fabrics.

I claim:

l. As a new article of manufacture, a knit stocking having ay reinforced fabric toe portion comprising a. multiple of yarns immune to the hardening action of dies. y

2. As a new article of manufacture, a knitted 'stocking having a reinforced fabric toe portion comprising a multiple of yarns treated with parallin oil of high boiling point.

VILLIAM L. THOMPSON. 

